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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in h.p. lovecraft

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

 

When HPL landed on Yuggoth,

he cried "My skin teareth and tuggeth!"

But he knew it meant trouble

when he started to bubble;

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When Cthulhu Sits on Yahweh's Throne

 

As a gag gift that Yule, a friend had given me a miniature reproduction of the biblical Ark of the Covenant.

(The Gift War is a tradition of venerable longstanding here in Paganistan.)

Amid all the holiday bustle, the Ark had yet to find a permanent home among my things. To get it out of the way for the time being, I'd set it on a shelf in the dining room.

Bad idea.

 

Among the circle of animals gathered around the Great Mother on her birth-stool beneath the Yule tree that year, the octopus netsuke was a real stand-out. Each sucker-cup rendered in loving detail, the little carved bone figure had compactly gathered its tentacles up around its body, thus making it eminently rollable.

After tracking down—again—where the kitten had batted the octopus off to this time, I resolved to get it out from underfoot. Looking for a safe place to stash it until I had time to put it away properly and (I'll admit it) spitefully savoring the petty blasphemy, I set it down between the outstretched wings of the little Ark of the Covenant's Cherubim Throne.

Really bad idea.

 

When Cthulhu sits on Yahweh's throne, beware.

Next day came the Great Christmas Tsunami of '04.

Almost 230,000 people were killed.

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs

 Close Up Of Octopus Suckers On The Tentacles Stock Photos, Pictures &  Royalty-Free Images - iStock

A Jewish Cthulhu Story

 

Sefer Shemot ha-Metim.

“Book of the Names of...” ...What? “...the Names of the Dead”? Or is it "...Dead Names"?

Yikes, my Hebrew's rusty. Unsurprising, I suppose, considering the fact that my Hebrew education came to a more or less screeching halt with my bar-mitza at age 13.

Damn Uncle Izzie and his fershtinkener books, anyway! Whatever possessed that crazy alter-kacker to leave his library to me—a secular Jew if ever there was one—instead of, say, to one of that coven of Qabalistic cronies he used to hang out with down in the shul basement?

Still, reluctantly, I find that my interest has been piqued. Whatever this book may be, it's certainly not a tractate of the Talmud.

Oh well: what do you think the Goddess gave us “Google Translate” for? I reach for my phone and begin to type.

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b2ap3_thumbnail_witchesindreamland.jpg

 

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs
The Lurker in the Lake

Did you know that there's a giant octopus in Lake Erie?

One that has wrecked ships and been responsible for hundreds of mysterious disappearances over the years?

To the uninitiated, this eldritch being is generally, unimaginatively, known as the Erie Octopus, but those of a, shall we say, darker disposition call this Old One instead by his true name: Yog-Nazathog.

High school was a great time to discover to world of Lovecraft. At the time we lived in Erie, Pennsylvania, AKA New Arkham (after the witch-hunts of the late 17th century, the most stalwart worshipers of the Old Ones fled west, and founded a port on the southern shores of Lake Erie), so as a budding writer, naturally I wrote about what I knew.

The story itself is long gone. (I don't think I actually called it The Lurker in the Lake, but I may have.) It took the form of a series of letters from various people that eventually revealed the usual Lovecraftian Dark Powers poised and ready to spring just beneath the outer layer of seeming reality, italicized last sentence and all.

With the cruel superiority of adolescence, a friend and I used to terrorize his little brother with tales of the Erie Octopus. There you'd be, standing on the cliff looking out over the lake, when suddenly you'd feel it: the tentacle around your waist, gripping inexorably, lifting you up off your feet, lifting, pulling, and you scream, scream....

Poor little Larry believed implicitly in the Erie Octopus. One day, down at the Lake, we really had him going.

“Ohmigod, look, there it is....!" "The Octopus!" "It's coming in!" "Shit: run, run, run!”

We ran.

Finally Larry's mom made us stop. He was beginning to be afraid of the Lake. When you live near a body of water, you have to respect it, but you can't fear it.

Oh, but then came a night. Payback, you could call it.

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Steven Posch
    Steven Posch says #
    Those days were the beginning and end of my Lovecraft period. Since then, I've found his writing pretty much unreadable. I do sti
  • Anthony Gresham
    Anthony Gresham says #
    I remember reading Lovecraft back in the 70's. I even have that book of his poems "Fungi from Yuggoth" around somewhere. In the
  • Gus diZerega
    Gus diZerega says #
    When living in Berkeley years ago, and frequently seeing friends at Chaosium, I designed maps for Call of Cthulhu. It was great fu
  • Steven Posch
    Steven Posch says #
    Ah, my dear Mr. Azedius, I've sometimes wondered why pagans are so often drawn to Cthulhuiana. Personally, I suspect a little se
Pagan News Beagle: Faithful Friday, March 18

A Tibetan nun speaks out on the role of women in Buddhism and the world generally. A Christian writer explores the appeal of H.P. Lovecraft. And the London community of Saivite Hindus from Sri Lanka is explored in depth. It's Faithful Friday, our weekly segment on faiths and religious communities from around the world! All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

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